U.S. stocks finished the week before Christmas with some price drops after having a great year. Many investors decided to take profits as trading slowed down before the weekend. Despite a small loss on Friday, the U.S. dollar was on track for a nearly 7% increase this year. This rise was due to hopes for strong economic growth and plans for tax cuts and less regulation from President-elect Donald Trump, which made the Federal Reserve careful about lowering interest rates until 2025.
As trading on Wall Street started to slow down, popular tech stocks like Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft, and Nvidia lost value. The S&P 500 dropped 1.11%, but it still had a slight gain for the week. The Nasdaq fell 1.49%, while the Dow Jones lost 0.77%. For the whole year, the Dow gained 14%, the S&P 500 rose by 25%, and the Nasdaq increased by 31%.
Some experts believe huge funds are selling stocks and buying bonds as the year ends, which might explain the recent market drops. The global share index and Asia-Pacific shares also saw slight declines.
Overall, there might be some potential for the bull market to keep going, but it could be limited. The U.S. dollar value slightly dropped on Friday but still showed gains this week and for the year. The euro remained steady with a 5.6% loss for the year because of actions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.
Investors are also keeping an eye on U.S. Treasury yields, which rose due to expectations of higher interest rates. Gold prices dropped a bit but had a strong yearly performance. Oil prices went up as people awaited news on China’s economic stimulus. Bitcoin also saw a slight decrease.
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